This invention relates to a method of smelting lead and more particularly to a method of smelting lead in an electric arc furnace.
Impurities are normally removed from lead scrap and low grade lead ore by smelting in blast furnaces or reverberatory furnaces. In such prior art methods, lead was melted in the presence of a reducing agent, such as coke. These methods were satisfactory so long as the lead scrap employed was obtained from relatively controlled sources so as to limit the degree and variety of impurities. However, as the sources of lead scrap are increased, some difficulty has been experienced with these prior art methods. For example, in the case of reverberatory furnaces, heat transferred from the gas burners is inhibited by larger quantities of slag incident to higher impurity levels. Also, in blast furnaces, higher impurity levels alter the physical and thermal properties of the lead which interferes with the downward flow of metal through the furnace stack. These prior art methods also increase pollution control problems because they involve the combustion of fuel which substantially increases the volume of off-gases which must be cleaned.